NINE TIME MACHINES: Do you want to undo your entire life on planet earth?

CHAPTER 51

At some point though, reality must set in. Leer Island doesn't allow for those who spend their lives dreaming of what could be. You either do it to them or have it be done to you. And since I'm undecided about my role in this hell hole, I spend my time either asleep or distracted when awake. Like right now. I've got a few hours to kill and need to gradually induce a temporary coma. There's only one way I know to do that. So I pop a few pills on my way to the shower. What? It's better than diving right into a novel I know might be good and risk being glued to it until the last full stop. Sometimes your brain needs to shut down like a fan. I know mine does. You find something you're comfortable with and use it as your switch; then wait for your thoughts to slow down until something flips the switch again.

That something is my alarm. I set it to switch me back on in four hours. This way I can shake myself off, get used to being in the land of the living again, remember that I'll soon be homeless for the umpteenth time. The last thing I remember before drifting off is my latest library book tumbling to the floor; then picking it up and heading downtown. Now I'm having the time of my life in parts of Leer Island I never gravitate to. I just had my hair done at the beauty salon to join a friend for dinner. On my way there, I stop off for a diamond necklace. After dinner he takes me to see a movie then drops me back off at my Sir Baxter Street apartment. What? This can't be my life! Now I know I'm dreaming. The alarm clock says, 'damn right you're dreaming'.

And now I'm switched back on to face a deafening reality I can't seem to change, no matter how many times I force myself to sleep. Perhaps that right there is my problem. One can only keep falling asleep if one always wakes up. Inhale. Exhale. Help me to never fall asleep again.